Boxing will be in the limelight this Friday night, with streaming giant Netflix airing a live boxing card for the first time. 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and 27-year-old Internet personality Jake Paul will face off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Jerry Jones will see a meaningful sporting event unfold in his stadium in a season where his Dallas Cowboys have been terrible (just don’t ask him if the sun obstructs his view).
Mike Tyson, a man whose life contains a seemingly endless number of acts, will step into a boxing ring for the first time since a 2020 exhibition match against fellow legend Roy Jones Jr. Mike Tyson’s last professional fight came nearly two decades ago, in June 2005, when he lost to Kevin McBride.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has sanctioned Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul as a professional boxing match. The match will have eight two-minute rounds with Tyson and Paul wearing 14-ounce gloves. This fight was supposed to happen on July 20th, but Tyson had an ulcer flare-up, so the event got postponed.
Why is 58-year-old Mike Tyson fighting again? The better question may be why Mike Tyson is allowed to fight again in a ring with 80,000 fans, streamed worldwide. When Mike Tyson last fought as a professional in June 2005, he lost via technical knockout to career journeyman Kevin McBride. After the fight, Tyson said, “I do not have the guts to be in this sport anymore. I don’t want to disrespect the sport that I love. My heart is not into this anymore. I’m sorry for the fans who paid for this. I wish I could have done better”. Now, here we are. It is often said that power is the last thing a boxer loses as they age, but this is taking that adage to the extreme.
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Jake Paul deserves credit for sticking with boxing. While his antics, thirst for publicity, and general vibe can rub people the wrong way, Paul has stayed involved with the sport longer than anyone could have anticipated. Paul is 10-1 with seven knockouts in pro fights. However, the term pro-fight is a bit of a misnomer.
Of his eleven professional boxing bouts, his first two came against a YouTuber (Ali Eson Gib) and former NBA player Nate Robinson. Another five of his fights were against four career mixed-martial artists: Ben Askren, two bouts with Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz. Three of his boxing matches have come against opponents whose resume’s first line would say professional boxer. His lone loss came to Tommy Fury, the most legitimate boxer Jake Paul has faced (Tommy Fury is best known for being Tyson Fury’s younger brother and taking time off from boxing in 2019 to appear on the reality show Love Island).
Following his defeat to Fury, Jake Paul quickly dispatched Andre August and Ryan Bourland, who are professional boxers but got put in the ring against Jake Paul for a reason. In his last fight this July, when Mike Tyson had to pull out of their scheduled fight, Paul fought MMA fighter/bare-knuckle boxer Mike Perry. Next up is a 58-year-old man best known to Jake Paul’s fans for his cameos in the Hangover movies.
Jake Paul has done a lot of good things for boxing, though. He has gotten more people talking about the sport, which boxing needs. Paul has also gotten into the promotional side of the sport. Through his company, Most Valuable Promotions, Paul has staged some events, helped lesser-known fighters gain notoriety, and helped women’s boxing gain greater legitimacy and increased pay for its participants. The most well-known boxer in Jake Paul’s stable of fighters is future Hall of Famer Amanda Serrano. Right before Mike Tyson and Jake Paul step into the ring, Serrano will have a rematch with Ireland’s Katie Taylor in a showcase of two of the top female boxers in the world.
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In April 2022, the first fight between Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO) and Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 32 KO) lived up to and arguably exceeded the hype placed upon it. The fight was the first women’s boxing match to sell out Madison Square Garden and took place between two legends of women’s boxing at the 135-pound lightweight limit. Taylor won via split decision in 2022’s Fight of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Event of the Year by Ring Magazine.
The judges could have scored the fight in either direction. Serrano landed 173 punches to Taylor’s 147, including Serrano landing an astounding 44 punches in the two minutes of round five. But Taylor landed 39% of her punches compared to Serrano’s 28% connect rate. All three judges scored the last three rounds of the fight for Katie Taylor, which was the difference.
Since Taylor and Serrano fought about thirty months ago, Serrano has won five consecutive fights. Katie Taylor defeated Karen Elizabeth Carbajal before moving to the 140-pound weight class. Taylor suffered her first career loss to Chantelle Cameron; Taylor invoked a rematch clause and defeated Cameron in the rematch. Taylor avenged her defeat and became the undisputed super-lightweight champion. Katie Taylor joined Claressa Shields as the only female boxers to be undisputed champions in two weight classes.
On Friday, Taylor vs. Serrano II will have Taylor’s super-lightweight championships on the line. Notably, the fight will take place at a catchweight of 138 pounds. Given the stadium atmosphere, the previous matchup, and the months of simmering hostilities, this fight will be electric. Serrano has vast professional experience and will have a game plan to make sure the rematch ends differently than the first matchup. Of course, Katie Taylor will make adjustments of her own.
Katie Taylor responded gracefully to critics questioning why she would agree to fight on the undercard of Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. “I think the fight in Madison Square Garden was very, very historic, and it inspired a lot of young girls into the sport, but to have a chance to fight on Netflix with a huge audience, millions upon millions of people are going to be watching this fight, you’re going to see women’s boxing at its best and I think both myself and Amanda are very, very grateful for this opportunity to be honest even though there might be a bit of controversy over the main event but myself and Amanda are pure fighters.”
Growing women’s boxing is something Taylor and Serrano are understandably passionate about. When Taylor began boxing as a teenager in the Republic of Ireland in the late 1990s, women were not legally allowed to box, so Taylor had to pretend to be a boy to box. Katie Taylor competed in the first officially sanctioned women’s boxing match ever held in Ireland on October 31st, 2001. From there, Taylor had a decorated amateur career, winning 176 times, losing twelve times, and drawing one fight. The capstone of Taylor’s amateur career was earning a gold medal for the Republic of Ireland at the 2012 London Olympics, the first Olympic Games to feature women’s boxing. In November 2016, Taylor entered the professional ranks.
Meanwhile, Amanda Serrano took a different path to success. She turned professional at age 20 in 2009. Fifteen years ago, women’s boxing was viewed as a novelty, if it was even acknowledged, and the start of Serrano’s career unfolded in relative obscurity. Compared with Katie Taylor, who has had all her fights broadcast globally, Serrano fought in front of small crowds. Throughout her career, Serrano has taken on all challengers, moving up to higher weight classes or down to lower weight classes to take on anyone. The success and length of Serrano’s career are a testament to her mental and physical discipline.
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Friday night is going to be a spectacle. In a way, it is fitting that this card will air on Netflix. Some people will tune in for the carnival of Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. Anything could happen, literally. Will Mike Tyson destroy some Prime energy drinks to get under Paul’s skin? Having already gifted Tyson a pigeon a few days ago, will Jake Paul criticize Mike Tyson’s one-man Broadway show? Anyone hoping to see a great boxing match will be disappointed. But for fans looking for quality boxing, Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano will be there to check that box. Friday’s historic boxing card on Netflix will have something for everyone. In a viewership environment and global population where everything seems to be getting more segmented, maybe that is a good thing.
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